Reactive armour

Vehicle armour that responds to an incoming projectile by moving plates or releasing energy to disrupt its penetration. Its main forms are explosive reactive armour and non-explosive reactive armour.

Explosive reactive armour: Armour modules use an explosive layer between plates to drive them outward when struck. The best-known form uses moving plates to disturb a shaped-charge jet.
Armour: Protective material or structure designed to resist damage from weapons or other hazards. Reactive armour is one specialized way of protecting a vehicle.
Main battle tank: A heavily armoured tracked vehicle designed for direct combat and versatile battlefield operations. Tanks commonly carry reactive modules to strengthen vulnerable exterior surfaces.
Armour-piercing fin-stabilized discarding sabot: A tank gun projectile that discards a sabot after firing and uses a long, dense penetrator to pierce armour. Its long-rod penetrator challenges reactive systems differently from shaped-charge warheads.
Non-explosive reactive armour: Reactive armour that uses materials or mechanical structures rather than detonating explosives. It responds to impact without the explosive reaction used by conventional modules.
Kinetic energy penetrator: A dense projectile that relies mainly on its speed and mass to pierce armour. Its long-rod form poses a different challenge from shaped-charge jets.
T-72: A Soviet-designed main battle tank introduced in the early 1970s and used by many countries. Later variants illustrate the fielding of reactive armour on an established tank design.
Tandem-charge warhead: A warhead with sequential charges, often intended to trigger and defeat explosive reactive armour before the main charge arrives. Its design directly counters the protection offered by explosive modules.
Shaped charge: An explosive charge that focuses its energy into a high-velocity jet of metal to penetrate armour. Its penetrating jet is the classic threat that reactive armour disrupts.
Armour steel: Steel alloy engineered to resist penetration, fracture, and impact damage. Reactive modules are mounted over structural armour that must still stop residual impacts.

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